Purpose The purpose of this narrative review of the literature is to provide a description of intensive interventions for elementary grade students with dyslexia, students with learning disabilities, and students with intensive reading and writing needs. Method First, we provide a brief overview of response to intervention. Second, we explain our theoretical framework for the review. Third, we describe evidence-based interventions, which are divided into predominantly reading or writing interventions. Fourth, we explain data-based individualization for these programs based on a taxonomy of intensity, and we provide an illustrative case study. Conclusion We conclude by describing a set of links to websites and technical assistance resources that may be helpful for speech-language pathologists, teachers, and other interventionists to stay current with this research base and to lead professional learning communities.

In the U.S., many states have adopted Response to Intervention or Multi-tiered Systems of Supports to provide early intervention. However, there is considerable variability in how states and schools implement RTI. Teachers are responsible for using student data from RTI to inform instructional decisions for students with or at risk for dyslexia, so it is necessary to understand the knowledge they have about the structure of RTI in their individual schools. This study reviews the results of an exploratory factor analysis of a survey aimed at measuring teachers' knowledge about RTI implementation and their understanding of RTI implementation within their school. The 52item survey was administered online to 139 general and special education teachers. The three final factors from this factor analytic work were: (1) Teacher Knowledge about Tier 1 Implementation;(2) Teacher Knowledge about Leadership and School Systems, and (3) Teacher Knowledge about Data-Based Decision Making. Factor determinacy scores demonstrated that the survey had high internal consistency. On average, teachers' survey scores were higher on the first two factors, and slightly lower on the third factor. Implications of the findings for teachers of students with learning disabilities, including dyslexia, and directions for future research were discussed.

Many educators are unprepared to meet the needs of students with the most intensive reading intervention needs. The purpose of this review was to identify how researchers have provided professional development (PD) to support educators’ implementation of intensive reading interventions, the extent to which these approaches included essential PD elements, and how researchers have measured implementer outcomes. In the 26 studies reviewed, implementers received initial training, and most received some form of ongoing support. Most studies appeared to incorporate one or more essential PD elements, though many lacked sufficient detail regarding the presence of these elements. Researchers used a variety of fidelity measures and other methods to assess implementer outcomes, which were typically positive. Results of this review indicate the need for researchers to report more detailed descriptions of PD activities, as well as the need for continued research on how best to support teachers’ implementation of intensive reading interventions.

BackgroundThe current study was designed to test if an objective measure of both attention and movement would differentiate children with Oral Language Disorders (OLD) from those with comorbid Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and if stimulant medication improved performance when both disorders were present.MethodsThe sample consisted of thirty-three children with an identified oral language disorder (of which 22 had comorbid ADHD) ages 6 to 13 who were enrolled in a yearlong intensive learning intervention program. Those on a stimulant medication were tested at baseline and again a year later on and off medication.ResultsObjective measures that included an infrared motion analysis system which tracked and recorded subtle movements discriminated children with OLD from those with a comorbid ADHD disorder whereas classic attention measures did not. There were better attention scores and fewer movements in children while on-medication.ConclusionsUse of an objective measurement that includes movement detection improves objective diagnostic differential for OLD and ADHD and provides quantifiable changes in performance related to medication for both OLD and ADHD.

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